Attessa IV

On the Queen of Oak Bay they had them at the purser's desk and at the check outs in the cafeteria. They took away our senior discounts and gave us candy canes.:rolleyes:

I suppose that they had to do something to sweeten the deal. :o

PD - Did you spend some time in Palm Springs as you suggested you might and if so how does it compare to your current winter home.

We don't lose the Seniors discount until April 1st so still some time to enjoy a freebie.

Best wishes to everyone for a great 2014 and happy cruising to all as well.

Yes I do believe PD that you are right it is the third version of our local forum.

Cheers

Dennis

PD - Did you spend some time in Palm Springs as you suggested you might and if so how does it compare to your current winter home.

 

Yes, we went over the second week of December, very much enjoyed it, it certainly is a lovely area. However, we returned to AZ feeling that it probably was worth the hassle for us....but you never know.

Yes I do believe PD that you are right it is the third version of our local forum.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Hello, Dennis. Third version = second reincarnation. No? :)

Math during Christmas Season is not required :D

I thought we "Oldies" were just going to drop down to half price ? Please tell me I'm not wrong. I might have to go back to hiding in the washrooms for the return B on a B&B over to Sidney and back for our summer cruise. May not be able to afford the Buffet either. :p

Hope everyone had a Great Christmas and...... best wishes for the New Year too.

That's to funny, I have never hid in the restroom of a B.C. Ferry but it is something we used to do on the old North Vancouver ferries to amuse ourselves when we were children....me thinks the fare was a nickel.:)

Yesterday, for the first time, I drove on the new Highway 17 connector between Tsawwassen and Highway 1. It was great, knocking about 25 minutes off the journey up the Fraser Valley. It was fast, smooth and fairly quiet, with few stops. This is a big improvement for those who drive between Tsawwassen and the Fraser valley. :)

That is good news, thanks for the up date....the old way was a real bearcat.:)

It certainly was; never ending traffic lights (and traffic). The new route is quite interesting too, what with ships on the river and it's route under the Alex Fraser, Patullo and Port Mann Bridges. The new Port Mann Bridge was shining in the sun, through a blanket of fog, a photographer's paradise!

P.S. Happy new year to you P.D. ;)

and a Happy New Year to you and all of the Vancouver area regulars.:)

Happy New year to everybody also.

That SFPR (#17) is one of the best pieces of road added to our System (?) since I don't know when. :) Maybe the Coq ?

Traveling to Border Xings, Twz Ferry, and of course my fav. Point Roberts is a breeze. Scot says 30 mins. Well from out here we were thinking it was closer to an hour well it seemed like it anyways. Nice scenic drive as Scot says along the river and some hidden gems in the cranberry bogs.

Kudos to the BC Govt.

 

Kudos to the BC Govt.

Careful now, someone may think that is too political....:D

Careful now, someone may think that is too political....:D

Nope can't I thought it over before posting and it's his Gov't too. :cool:

Yes that route is a delight to drive - my first attempt I couldn't do the stretch from 99 to 91 -despite claiming it was opened - turned out that was the day Queen Christy and Prince Todd had selected for the officical opening and stupid me wasn't listening to News 1130 traffic reports but instead was listening to some delightful Xmas tunes on 103.5 FM.

A couple days later did the entire route and it was a breeze - narrows down to one lane under the old bridge as they dismantle it and keep in mind its ends at 176th which is Highway 15th to the border which has also been upgraded.

Time to cruise on out of here.

Cheers!

Dennis

Look at what we found in St. Maarten last week. We offered to bring her home but they said no.

Welcome back to the boards - missed you while you were enjoying the best of the Caribbean.

Cheers!

Dennis

Here is question for Left Coast....DW's father was a BC Policeman then subsequently an RCMP officer and she has a recollection of her father having to go into Canadian customs when entering the US with a letter from his CO advising that he was on leave and had permission to leave Canada and when he was returning. Do you have any recollection of having to do so? What brought this to mind was the post recently about rental cars being problematic to bring into Canada.

We had some strange rules we had to follow regarding leave. I recall getting passes signed by local Chiefs when on leave but by the time I got to BC there was no such rule going into the States. We went across all the time. But BCP taken over in '49 and that was long before my arrival.

The rental car business was just a rule that followed along the fact that a US vehicle could not be driven by a Canadian in Canada back in the day. Period. Seemed just a simple old rule that reasoned if you were a Canadian and driving a US vehicle you hadn't paid the custom duties. The Big car guys didn't want you to know the price difference that we all know now.

There was a rule you could drive a US rental into Canada but only directly to a Canadian rental agency and change cars. So that became the actual reason why rental agencies would not let Canadians take them across the border. It was too expensive for them to get them back.. Then it became ok for the Agencies to allow rentals of those US vehicles to Us citizens to return them to US. Eg Seattle-Vancouver

And now

It's ok for Canadians to rent and return home and go on to other places and return the car. Eg Skagway.

Almost makes sence now..

OK, just thought I would ask. DW's mothers family lived in Fernie so so went they went to visit in those days they went via Washington highways (as many still do) and thus she remembers the stop at Canadian customs. The merger of the 2 forces took place in the summer of 1950 but you were close and as you say long before your time.

Thought it was time to bring this forward - of interest to both us locals not all of whom get downtown regularly and to visitors alike there is a new large White Spot - http://www.whitespot.ca - opened downtown at Dunsmuir and Homer in the former 411 Seniors building - one person says it is the largest White Spot in the chain - haven't been there yet as the Drake location is much more convenient - and for those who like Triple's O's - there is a new one located in the CBC building on Hamilton Street. Here's a direct link to that new location:

https://www.whitespot.ca/news/community/white-spot%E2%80%99s-largest-restaurant-opens-core-downtown-vancouver-405-dunsmuir-street

Work has finally started on the re-birth of Umberto's restaurant in the 1300 block Hornby - that's across the street from my condo so I will be able to give updates as they occur.

Cheers!

Dennis

Glad you brought it forward. My memory is a bit foggy but isn't the 411 kitty corner to the Sally Ann? I know the Sally Ann is a new building, year ago they talked to us about buying the land and building.

Bringing this back to the Attessa, I got a phone call a few weeks ago from our skipper friend's wife who said if I got up about 0400 I could see him bring the Attessa by , he was bringing it down from Stewart Island....I asked that he not honk on the way by!:)

Old Sally Ann would be at SW corner of Richards and Dunsmuir - old 411 seniors would be NW corner of Homer and Dunsmuir - Holy Rosary Cathedral is across the street and Post Office on another corner - the new Sally Ann would be directly north on Homer from the 411 - BC Hydro is also there.

Has the recent flooding in Arizona affected your winter home.

Looks like the "Big Fishes" Quick Shuttle thread got a quick shuffle off the boards.

Cheers!

Dennis

Has the recent flooding in Arizona affected your winter home.

 

Looks like the "Big Fishes" Quick Shuttle thread got a quick shuffle off the boards.

 

Haven't heard from anyone re flooding it seemed to be up Las Vegas way and down in Phoenix. We are out of the flood plain and even when there is localized flooding the water is diverted through washes onto the golf course....at least so far.

That was quite a rant by Big Mouth....my guess is someone at Quick Shuttle got to the moderator.